Nobody Checks My Work

While I'm flattered that people think I'm such a good parliamentary draftsman that my work is free from errors, the fact that nobody seems to go over my proposals and spot bugs means that I'm more likely to make mistakes. While looking over the proposal I wrote yesterday, I realized that just re-inserting the sentence that we dropped out of 3.2 doesn't work because the wording of other sections changed as well. For instance, the old 75-mile exclusion zone no longer exists. Giving it more thought, I think that the purpose of section 3.6 was supposed to change entirely. Under the old two-zone system (plus a local 75-mile exclusion), you had two deadlines, and these things happened at deadlines:

Jan 1: If nobody from eligible zone (there was only one in those days) files, then any place in the other zone except places within 75 miles of the administering site becomes eligible.

Apr 15: Only sites filed by today appear on the ballot. If nobody files, then the 75-mile restriction goes away as well. Obviously, all bids run as write-ins.

The 75-mile rule isn't there any more. The April 15 rule is really meant only to apply to what bids appear on the ballot. Only the January 1 rule applies to letting the "local zone" bid.

Taking all of this into account, I get this revised wording:

3.6 Provisions When No Valid Eligible Bids Are Received

If no valid bids are received by the deadline in section 3.5, If no eligible bids are received by the January 1st of the year of the site-selection balloting, then all sites defined in section 3.1 shall be eligible and the other site restrictions in this article shall be suspended.

( Supporting argument that will appear with the proposal in the agenda )

I think this accomplishes what we want, but I would appreciate it if someone else would look through the Westercon bylaws and make sure I haven't caused one problem while trying to fix another.

Edit, 11:35: Added the supporting argument that goes with the proposal.

Well, Those Grapes Were Probably Sour, Anyway

I am working from home again today (and it's legitimate, for reasons discussed in a friend-locked post), so once again I get to see (sort of; it's on in the background while I hunch over the computer responding to analysis requests) World Cup matches. This morning it was Cinderella team Ghana against Brazil. While Ghana seemed to actually play better than Brazil, especially in the first half, Ghana had to try a risky strategy and ended up losing 3-0.

I take some cold comfort in knowing that even if the USA had managed to beat Ghana in group play, they would have taken Ghana's spot in the round of sixteen and run into Brazil, and that almost certainly would have been that for the USA anyway.

It still was a great tournament for Ghana.

The last round-of-sixteen match is being played today. My "brackets" for the remainder of the tournament are:

Quarterfinals:

Germany - Argentina: Germany in a very rough and tumble match

Italy - Ukraine: Italy, probably on penalties after 0-0, with both teams down at least one man

England - Portugal: Portugal, but England could surprise me

Brazil - Winner of France-Spain: Brazil, probably without much difficulty


Semifinals:

Germany - Italy: Germany

Portugal - Brazil: Brazil


Finals:

Germany - Brazil: Very tough call, but I'll guess that Germany's home-pitch advantage is just enough to overcome Brazil


Now in a few days you can all come back and laugh at me.

Not Really a Bad Place to Work

My company's IT Support department sends out a newsletter. This quarter's issue leads with the following quote:

So computers are tools of the devil?" thought Newt. He had no problem believing it. Computers had to be the tools of somebody, and all he knew for certain was that it definitely wasn't him.

--Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens

Westercon Schedule

Slightly differently formatted than the Conzilla Schedule, and including things of which I'm a part that are not necessarily listed with my name on them.

• Friday 19:00: San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres (Petco Park)
  Westercon Baseball Excursion Group
  
• Saturday 14:00: Organizing a Con (Cabrillo 2)
  Bobbi Armbruster, Ed Green, Craig Miller, Nora Rankin
  
• Sunday 10:00: Alternative Electoral Systems (Salon B)
  Scott Norton, Jefferson Swycaffer, Bill Taylor
  
• Sunday 12:00: Westercon Business Meeting (2 hours if needed) (Salon A)
  Ed Green, Kevin Standlee
  
• Sunday 14:00: Convention Traditions We No Longer Need (Cabrillo 2)
  Glenn Glazer, Scott Norton, Nora Rankin, Andy Trembley
  
• Monday, 12:00: Westercon Business Meeting, Site Selection Session (Salon A)
  Ed Green, Kevin Standlee
  
• Monday 15:00: Great Convention Mistakes! (Salon F)
  Bobbi Armbruster, Glenn Glazer, Val Ontell, jan howard finder
  
• Tuesday 12:00: Match Game SF (2 hours) (Pavilion)
  Lynn Gold, Nancy Holder, Scott Norton, Nora Rankin, Kevin Roche, Andy Trembley
  
• Tuesday 14:00: Dramatic Hugo Nominees: Lucas Back in Anger and Prix Victor Hugo (2 hours) (Pavillion)
  Kevin Standlee

Unfortunately, the showing of the two Dramatic Hugo nominees overlaps the Closing Ceremonies, and I wanted to be at the Closing Ceremonies. For that matter, it's going to affect how many people come to see LBIA. I was originally going to show Prix Victor Hugo first because it's only about 12 minutes long; however, with time at a premium, I guess I'll put LBIA first and show Prix only if there is anyone there left who wants to see it. The shorter piece can after all be downloaded from the Interaction Web Site.